Off To Neverland
by Darkday Chaos
Summary: [Complete] It might've started out as a normal morning, if it weren't for Nami. Now next to nothing is going according to plan.
1. The World Goes Screwy

_I said I'd get this up by yesterday, but, oh well. A happy late birthday to Zoro!  
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**Off To Neverland **

_In Which The World Goes Screwy_

"I've just decided. I'm going insane. Do you wanna come with?"

It was a peaceful night, the waves gently rocking the caravel back and forth, the stars drifting lazily across the dark sky, the warm, salty breeze gliding over the deck... the perfect night to get some long needed rest. So what was their navigator doing awake, spouting nonsense?

"Umm, Nami? What...?"

Had she heard him come up on deck? He didn't think his footsteps were that loud.

Leaning against the rail of the ship, facing the ocean, she giggled slightly.

Oh no. That was bad. Had she gotten into the booze? That wasn't like Nami at all. Had something bad happened when he wasn't looking? As likely as that was on this ship, he suspected that might not be the case. Well, he would never figure out what Nami was thinking if he didn't know exactly what _he_ was thinking.

She giggled again, only this time if was more of a laugh than a noise.

"You think I'm drunk or something, right? Nah, I'm totally sober. And serious."

She turned to face him. "Do you want to be crazy? You know, insane in the head?"

He frowned slightly. What was she talking about?

"Can you explain a little better? I don't understand what you're asking..."

She sighed, looking down, orange locks hanging over her face, hiding her eyes. Then she looked back up at him, smiling.

"I guess you wouldn't, would you? Oh well... Can't be helped." She stretched her arms out, yawning. "Well, I'm going to bed. 'Night Usopp."

That caught him by surprise. What did she mean, he wouldn't understand? And she looked so calm, like she said stuff like that everyday. She turned and started walking back to her cabin.

"Wuh- Wait! What do you-Hey, stop!" He leaped after her and grabbed her arm before she could disappear into the ship. She turned around and patiently waited for him to let go.

"Yeah, Usopp?"

His arm fell to his side, and the sudden burst of energy was gone as quickly as it came, leaving him with nothing to say.

She grinned at him, a thief's grin, once more sensing what he felt.

"Don't worry about it," she said reassuringly, "It's nothing important, I was just wondering."

She patted his shoulder afectionatly, calmly smiling. There were so many different ways Nami could smile, it was almost unnerving. "Get some sleep, okay?"

He sighed, relinquishing. "Alright. Goodnight Nami."

"'Night Usopp."

He laid awake in bed some twenty minuets later. She had definitely been abducted by aliens. It was up to him, Captain Usopp, Brave Warrior Of The Sea, to help her! Nothing was worse than being abducted by aliens. Save maybe being abducted by dinosaur people from the lost underwater city of Gersant. That would suck. Either way, Nami was in danger, and that was not acceptable. But how to help...?

Still brainstorming, he slowly drifted off to sleep with the gentle rocking of the ship and the familiar snores and mutterings of his mates.

---

"Is it... a giraffe."

"No! Try again, you'll get it!"

"A... ship."

"No! Almost!"

"Hmm... it's... a barrel. With sails? And a steering wheel. And a little monkey hanging off the side with a drumstick. No wait.. that's me. With two swords out, right?"

"Yeah! ZORO GOT IT! Woohoo!"

Luffy wrote "20" on the top of the scrap paper and handed it to Zoro.

"I've almost got more points than you, you know," laughed Nami, "You'll never beat me." A pile of scribbled-on papers sat next to her, each with a different number score. Zoro ignored her and set his new aquisition on his own small pile.

"Ah... grihh... done! Sanji, your turn!"

"I told you, I'm not playing!" The cook shoved away the paper. "Give it to Usopp!"

Luffy looked at him sulkingly for a moment, before passing the paper to the sharpshooter.

He took it and stared. Uh. Hmm. Was that... an arm? And that sort of looked like a tail, if he kind of squinted and tilted his head to the left... But to the right that part looked like a building... Ah! Got it.

"A dinosaur person from the lost underwater city of Gersant!" he exclaimed proudly.

"That's great Usopp! How'd you know! That's 78 points!"

Zoro and Nami's jaws dropped. "_What_?" The highest score anyone had gotten so far was 34!

"I guess I just know everything in the universe, that's all. It's not my fault you guys are so stupid." He shrugged. "You can just call me Captain Usopp, Brave Warri- _ACK_!"

Zoro had caught Usopp in a headlock and was noogying the heck out of him.

"Ugh-Zor- AH! St-stop! Owch!"

"Having fun?" interjected Sanji from the open kitchen door.

"Hell y- _no_," replied Zoro, having relinquished the unhappy sharpshooter. "But I still won, even with your dumb dinosaur person." He directed his attention back to Usopp.

"Well yeah, by two points," Nami teased. "Way to go, Master Swordsman. I bow down before your mad scribble interpretation skills."

"Nami-swan is so cute when she's being sarcastic!" swooned Sanji. "Pirate monkeys! Lunchtime!"

"YEAH! MEAT!"

"Finally, took long enough."

"Thank you, Sanji-kun."

"Lets get some grub"

---

"So it's like carrot soup with smoked bluerice noodles and goza fish? That's something I've never tried before. Smells good. He might be a second rate cook, but he sure is creative."

"Oh ho, were my ears deceiving me, or did the shitty swordsman give me a compliment just now?"

"You know cook, I think I gave the exact same 'compliment' to a complete moron once. Man, did his ego go flying, though."

Sword and shoe whizzed through the air at the same moment and met in the middle. "Shut up and eat your food, you #$&#$."

"Sanji-kun! When you curse it upsets me! Please don't!" called Nami with an overly exaggerated innocent look.

"YES, Nami-swan!"

Usopp started. There it goes again. Nami. She had been at least slightly un-Nami-like all day.

Nami had supreme power over Sanji's actions, and sometimes used that power to make him do things to her advantage. She used it when he had gotten mad at Usopp on the baratie, to break up the fight. That was just for fun, to test out her newfound influence, Usopp thought.

But this was long since then, and she just made Sanji refrain from cursing. What was up with that? Usually she didn't mind an innapropriate word or two, as long as no one disturbed her when she was trying to concentrate. So... why? Abduction via aliens didn't seem like the reason anymore.

Luffy's hand suddenly lashed out and grabbed onto his soup bowl, and Usopp stabbed it with his fork.

"Dangit Luffy, that's mine!"

"But you weren't EATING it..." pouted their captain.

"He's right, Usopp. What's up? You've been staring at Nami funny." pointed out Zoro, who was leaning back with his arms crossed, having finished his meal.

"Huh? Have I? ...Oh! I remember now. I was looking at that barrel behind her." Usopp pointed to the corner. "I thought I saw something interesting in the wood pattern. It kind of looked like a picture Luffy drew earlier."

Everyone stared at him. Except Luffy, he took advantage of the situation to steal everyone's food.

"...What? It does!" he said indignantly.

"Usopp..." Sanji ventured, "Either you just told the truth-"

"Or," continued Zoro, "just told such a good lie that we would have believed you-"

"-if you ever actualy told the truth. Which you never do." finished Sanji.

"So what? Maybe I'm just better at lying than you thought!" He struck his Brave Warrior pose.

"Probably not." all four of them said in unison.

His face fell. "Well, does it really matter?"

"No, guess not." Zoro shrugged before leaning back again and going to sleep.

The ship lurched suddenly to the left and sent everyone tumbling. Zoro had his sword out and was running out the kitchen door before anyone could get up. Sanji and Luffy were right behind him.

"What was that!"

"I don't- The heck?" Zoro stopped in mid-sentence to stare at what had come into view.

A huge marine ship, at least five times bigger than the Going Merry, had rammed into the pirate ship with enough force to kill a whale. When the ship had stopped rocking, a small round object flew from the marines to the Going Merry's deck, and exploded.

"Duck!" shouted Sanji, and the three of them only just managed not to get hit by the metal shards that lodged themselves in the wood.

"Come on now," called Zoro, "Do you marines really think a little... bomb would... kill us...?" He frowned and rubbed his head, as if to clear a headache. He quickly turned to the others. "D... don't... breathe the..."

He stumbled and dropped his sword.

Luffy was about to say something, but Sanji stopped him, his sleeve pressed over his nose and mouth. Luffy looked at Sanji and frowned. Sanji shook his head.

Zoro was on his knees, coughing. "Get... in... s...side... Go!"

Just as he shouted the last word, marine soldiers came streaming down from the bigger ship, but...

They were all wearing gas masks.

"Come on, get in here! Sanji and Luffy!" Usopp's muffed shout, from behind a dish rag, ushered them to get out of danger, at least for the moment.

Luffy struggled none too quietly, but Sanji held on to him and ran for the kitchen door.

"Sanji, put me down! We gotta get Zoro! Sanji! Stop it!"

He flew through the door and bolted it, panting even though he hardly got to do anything.

Luffy coughed slightly and glared at Sanji. "Why did you do that! We have to get Zoro and fight those marines!"

"Because!" the cook yelled, quite anoyed. "That bomb they threw put poison in the air, do you get it? Zoro got sick like that because he breathed it in. It's like what happened on the Baratie, Luffy. That's why he told us to get inside!"

"So we gotta go get him!" Luffy stood, breathing heavily, and bashed the door open before anyone could stop him. He flew outside and fought off the marines, some of whom had started to carry Zoro off to their ship.

Nami, Usopp and Sanji glanced at each other, before following in Luffy's footsteps and blasting onto the deck.

While the others fought below, Usopp scrambled up the rigging as fast as he could while still holding his breath. Once he got to the crow's nest, he took a huge gulp of fresh air. He was right; the gas didn't reach all the way up here.

He took out his slingshot and started to do his job; he sniped off at least three dozen marine soldiers with his pachinko stars. But they kept coming, and they weren't exactly easy to kill. It was hard to get a good angle, too, from way up here... And sometimes, he missed? What was up with that? He never missed.

He coughed into his arm. Was it just him, or was everyone staying still? His nakama didn't seem to be moving... and the marines were.

He could see the uniforms, with the large "JUSTICE" emblazoned on the backs, swimming around like little fishies... Swimming? That wasn't right. Alot of things weren't right, Usopp thought as the world started spinning and he dropped his slingshot.

He leaned over the wall of the crow's nest for support; he could hardly stand. First Nami was acting wierd, and now these dumb marines come and now he's coughing too hard to feel the pain... Maybe he was leaning too far forward. But that was the least of his worries.

"Off to Neverland" was the last thing he could think before blacking out and plummeting towards the deck, his decent ending with a sickening thud.

**To Be Continued...**

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_First chapter's up, folks! Don't be shocked! Not all is what it seems. There is always a happy ending.  
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	2. A Dark Conversation

_To answer a few reviews..._

polw: _Hahaha, most people would just assume it was deadly poison, but..._

Griever5: _I wouldn't just end it there. I hope you like the newest installment!_

Starfire-hime:_ Well, I guess it's almost Pictionary... but Luffy-style._

imjuzakyd: _I'm glad this caught your interest. I'm a fan of Peter Pan myself. _

_And thanks to Leo's Starlight! On with the show..._

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**Continued...**

_In Which There Is a Dark Converstaion_

Nami groaned and sat up. Or at least, she tried to. Something held her down... was that concrete? Yup. Her wrists and feet were stuck. Thick,- around six inches- and very solid. Wonderful. Wait. Was she upright or laid flat? Come to think of it, was she on the ceiling or the walls or the floor, or maybe suspended in the air? And why couldn't her eyes seem to open? That was kind of anoying. Oh well. She wasn't really awake yet anyway, so... back to sleep.

Hold it. Voices? From behind her, (or was it in front? or above? or-) two voices, seemingly in conversation. Strikingly familiar voices, too, but... too sleepy to remember. Oh well. Just sit and listen.

"So you never tried goza fish before?"

"No, I grew up in East Blue, so I never really got the chance. Isn't the goza fish a Northern?"

"Yeah. Even though I was on the Baratie for a long time, I was born in the North Blue. "

"Wow... Yeah, It's an interesting dish, though, the goza fish with bluerice noodles."

"You've never tried it before, huh? So, did you like it?"

"Oh, definitley. Lunch was really good- it always is, you're one of the best cooks I've ever come across- but I mean for my personal taste, it's one of my favorites."

"Thanks..."

"Where'd you get the bluerice, though? Isn't that also a North Blue plant?"

"Oh, they had some at Kokoyashi, Nami-san's village. They have some quality food there, let me tell you. Especially the fruit..."

"Yeah, I tried some. Ah, Kokoyashi... I hope they have a good sword shop at the next island, Rougetown. They should, you know, with all the fame the island has."

"New swords, huh... You know, I've always kind of wondered..."

"Hmm?"

"About your fighting style, you know. With the three swords and all. What was it again, Santeri..."

"Santouryuu?"

"Yeah. I mean, why three? Obviously you can fight the best with three swords now..."

"Right."

"...but why did you decide to start with three in the first place? I've always kind of wondered."

"Well, it goes a while back, ever since I started in the dojo I went to as a little kid. I used to practice with only two. My sword, the white one, actually belonged to a girl in the dojo, Kuina. Her father was the sensei."

"Was she any good?"

"Haha! Hell yeah. She was the only person I- Well, I could beat everyone in the dojo, right. Even people twenty years older than me. But not her. You know when things like that happen, right?"

"Yeah, all the time. I get that. But did you ever beat her?"

"Nah... the morning after our two-thousand-and-first battle... she died falling down the stairs. Even if she was a great swordsmaster, she was still just a kid."

"I'm sorry. So that's her sword, right? The white one you put in your mouth?"

"Yeah. ... And now you know. But hey. Something important like that happens to everyone, right? It's kind of like the rock, isn't it."

"It's just like that! Exactly like that."

"Almost a hundred days, huh?"

"Yeah. I still can't belive we survived that..."

Okay. Nami was definitley awake now. Zoro and Sanji, talking, those were their voices, but... they were having a calm discussion, a friendly chat even, with no fighting or insulting! Okay then. Whatever.

"...Guys? Is that you, guys?"

"Nami-swan! We're right here!"

"Nami are you alright?"

"Ah, I'm so glad it's you... I can't see, guys... where are you?"

"I think we're above you, Nami, but I'm not sure."

Nami had to laugh, even though she didn't know either.

"Hey. How should I know?" She could hear the frown in Zoro's voice.

"But he's right, we're somewhere above you, Nami-san. We can't see either, it's pitch black in here."

"How long have you boys been awake?"

"I dunno... couple hours...?"

"Sounds about right."

"So how come you're not fighting with each other?"

"We got bored," they replied in unison.

"...And I can't kick him," Sanji added as an afterthought.

"We would've been out of here by now if we were free enough to fight, anyway."

"Have you heard from Luffy or Usopp?"

"Nah. I think they're in another room," replied Zoro, "It's only the three of us in here. It's actually not too big of a room, just average cube-shaped prison or whatever. There's no door though, and the walls are like ten feet thick."

"Whoah, Zoro," said Nami, suprised, "How do you know all that?"

"Echo-location," he said calmly.

Both Nami and Sanji cracked up laughing.

"I have very sharp ears," he continued, a smile tugging at the edge of his voice. They only burst into renewed peals of laughter, which did in fact echo.

After a moment, they quieted down and the three of them sat- or was it stood, or hung, or laid?- in silence.

"Zoro... Zoro..."

"Hmm? Yeah Nami?"

"I didn't say anything, Zoro."

"Hey Sanji, you say something?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Zoro... Zoro... Zoro..."

"Whoever's doing that, cut it out!"

"What are you talking about, you shitty swordsman, stop trying to scare us!"

"Zoro..."

"Someone keeps saying my name!"

"I said, stop it! You're just trying to creep me out because you have nothing better to do!"

"Would you guys just-"

"STOP SAYING MY NAME!" the three of them shouted in unison.

"MY NAME... my name... name... name... ame... me..." the echo resounded over and over, leaving the crew mates slightly edgy and jumpy.

"You two okay?" muttered Sanji. "'M sorry about that... I thought I heard my name being called over and over again."

"I did too, I don't think it was a coincidence."

"I'm not saying I didn't," mused Nami, "But sometimes in a situation like this, people start to hallucinate. It's most likely just your imagination."

"Maybe..."

"Nami-swan is so smart!"

Zoro sighed. "This is getting ridiculous. We should try to get out of here."

"We already did, remember?"

"Yeah, well..." He did still ache from the first half an hour since waking up. "There is one thing we should figure out, at least."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Which way is up."

"Got any ideas?"

"Well..." He frowned in concentration. "You're about... four feet away, Sanji, and Nami... is some eight feet in front of me. You guys know the way you're facing?"

"We're both facing you, I think. Or maybe we're all facing something in the middle."

"That's about right."

"So... What now?"

"No idea. We're stuck."

"Well, great." Sanji said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Hey Zoro..." Nami's voice was almost timid.

"Hmm? What is it, Nami?"

"You weren't kidding when you said you had echo-location, were you? And when you said that there was ten foot thick walls and no openings?"

"No, I wasn't. But we'll be fine! ...Right Sanji?"

"Huh? ... Oh, definitly! Don't worry, Nami-san, we're gonna get out of here in no time!"

"Alright," she smiled, and yawned. "I'm going back to sleep. Maybe you guys can figure something out."

She settled back against the- she supposed it was a wall, for simplicity's sake- and closed her eyes, falling into a deep slumber.

"You know..."

"Hmm?"

"I'm probably going to go to sleep, too, Sanji. That gas really got me good."

"Ah, go ahead," the cook sulked, " I'll just sit here by myself in the darkness alone, waiting possibly for hours by myself for you to wake up. Alone. In the dark." Sanji would never admit it, but he was slightly frightened at the prospect. Very slightly.

Zoro chuckled softly, closing his eyes, not knowing why he had them open in the first place. "You do that."

"From the bay, all ships must sail, if only for today." The swordsman's low voice muttered a tune that rumbled around the almost heavy air.

"Across the sky a seagull flies to somewhere far away... While the small boat sails away from town and the fish in the ocean carry the sound to a secret place that can't be found past farthest bay... set sail, set sail, and never stray from your dreams, and where the ocean meets the sky is closer than it seems... Sleep, sleep, and dream of adventures old and new, sail away to the sky and don't come home until you've stolen the moon."

Sanji had almost found himself humming along to the melody. It was an old song, from pirates long ago, and through generations and generations, the song had changed and been added to. Almost everyone had their own version to sing.

You know, now that he thought about it, Sanji was getting kind of sleepy, too.

The last thing he could speculate upon before he drifted off to Neverland was, maybe Zoro sang the lullaby on purpose to get him to sleep.

**To Be Continued**


	3. A Discovery

Golden-Fire-Godess: _It dosen't have a name, but if you have one in mind, go ahead and tell me so I can make it official. :)_**  
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_I'm glad Zoro and Sanji's begining dialoge__ came across the way it did!_

_Sorry this was so late-I had to watch Zathura and get ready for my birthday on the 25th (hint hint) and so on... Anyway, here it is!_

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**Continued...**_  
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_In Which Usopp Makes a Discovery_

Luffy just didn't like it. That's all there was to it. He was hungry. His nakama were still missing. He was hungry. He was uncomfortable. And he wanted to eat meat.

He didn't like it. So it had to stop. And stop it did. But...

It wasn't him who stopped it. He couldn't. He was being dunked in water- but that wouldn't stop him. So what would? Sea water. Darn ocean. He didn't care that he was cursed all that much, but the ocean didn't like him anymore. So it stopped him from stopping it. So somebody else did. Who, though? One of his nakama. How did he figure it out? He didn't. He just knew.

One shot- a crack in the ice. Two shots- water poured out onto the floor in a minerature waterfall. Three shots- more waterfalls. One last shot- the sharp sound of ice breacking, collapsing, sliding; water gushed out in one last burst, leaving Luffy hanging by wires, dripping freezing salt water.

Anoying people- marines- dressed in white coats, had put him in the water, jabbing needles into his shoulders and back. He was sure of that part, because that's what made him wake up. He had started fighting again, but, stupid anoying marine people, they wouldn't let him move. That never stopped him before, but before it had always been from outside of him. This time, it was his own body that was betraying him, and then he had been dunked into the water, like a half-eaten donut. Even worse, it was closed with ice. It was to cold to do anything, even if everything else hadn't been stopping him.

He tried anyway. He always did. Even if it was impossible, he always tried. Maybe that's why everyone called him stupid, and crazy, and foolish and stuff like that. He never paid any attention to people like that, so it didn't really do any good. In his opinion, it was people like that who never really got the point of anything.

But then there were people like his nakama. They called him crazy, too, but they quite understood that if he was crazy, so were they. That's what nakama do. If he's crazy, they all are, to follow him. That was the fun part!

"Luffy- Hey Luffy, you alright up there?"

The captain's eyes snapped open at the sound of one of his crewmate's voices. Even though he was still very weak and cold and uncomfortable, not to mention in pain, he cracked a slow, wide grin.

"Hey. Could you get me down? I'm kind of stuck." The grin never wavering, he made a small gesture with his head to the wires protruding from his skin that held him suspended in the air. His voice, even to his own ears, sounded far too quiet and chilling, like someone on the verge of total malicious insanity.

"... Sure, of course." There was only a brief pause before a pachinko star whizzed through the air and hit one of the wires, burning it to cinders. Five more shots, five more destroyed wires, and the rest of them snapped under the weight of the boy. He plumeted limply into the arms of his sharpshooter.

"You wouldn't happen to have any meat, now wouldja?" Than inane grin again, the raven-haired head tilted up to look at his face with imploring eyes.

"Sorry Luffy, I couldn't get any. Can you stand up?"

"Nah. You can just drag me if you want, so you don't have to carry me."

"I ain't gonna drag ya..." Usopp replied, in an of-course-not voice. I had been a long time since Luffy had heard someone use that voice. He closed his eyes.

"Hey Luffy, do you know where the others are?"

"Down." The unhesitating answer with only a blunt word should have startled Usopp, but for some reason it didn't.

He stomped one foot on the floor and instantly regreted it. The broken ice on the floor was still cold enough to keep shape, and was still jagged. He inhaled sharply to keep from yelling.

"How do we get to them?"

"Go down, silly."

Usopp sighed. "Maybe we should get those needles out of you first. So you can get better sooner. We'll need you, you know."

"Yeah. I know. Can you do it, Usopp?"

"Yeah, sure." He set Luffy down on a dry spot on the floor, so the captain was on his side, his back facing Usopp.

"This is going to hurt." Luffy didn't reply.

The needles weren't your average sewing needles, oh no, they wide enough to wrap around two of your fingers, maybe more. Streams of blood were already dripping down his back and forming puddles on the floor, his moving around causing the needles to become wiggled loose.

Usopp took two seconds to mentaly prepare himself before closing his fingers around the first of the monstrosities and pulled. It came out none too smoothly, and his captain's blood spurted out onto his hands. Usopp could see him shiver in pain and curl up slightly, tucking his knees into his body.

Usopp was no doctor, but he could tell that it wasn't really as bad as it could've been. The marines had at least taken his shirt off before jabbing him, so no cloth had gotten stuck into him. And, no needles had been stuck into his spine, that was definitly good.

---

A few bloodier-than-usual minuets later Luffy was needle free, and wrapped in Usopp's sash under his retrieved shirt. He had to be carried piggy-back because anything else Usopp couldn't manage while trying to be quick.

There were almost no marines around, which was the scary part. Usopp had no trouble at all getting to where they had been keeping Luffy, and that in itself was troubling.

This whole place was kooky. The lights were old fashioned fire torches. The halls were cement and almost circular, and there were no stairs, but sometimes the floor curved up or downwards. There were no marines. There were no doors to outside. There were no other rooms that actualy had much in them. Usopp found himself running in circles half the time.

He didn't really know what he was looking for, either. A stairway? An elevator? A map, saying 'You Are Here'? He tried to ask Luffy if he knew anything besides 'Go down, silly', but the poor kid had conked out and Usopp thought it best just to let him sleep and recover.

He tried calling for his crewmates, just because everything else wasn't working.

"Zoro! Sanji! Nami!" He went down to the part of the halls were the floor seemed to go lowest down and called again, at the top of his lungs.

"NAMI! ZORO! SANJI! NAMI! ZORO! SANJI!"

He paused, out of breath, and running quickly out of hope.

'... stop... my name...'

What? Was that... Could it be? It was them! He was sure of it!

"Guys!" he called, franticly searching for something, anything that would let him get to them.

He did find something- a metal handle in the floor. With all the strength he had left, he wrenched it up and whatever was attached to it out of the ground. A huge cement cube popped up and landed on the floor with a teeth-rattling boom. Looking down into the square hole that was left, Usopp saw an identical metal handle.

Okay. This was going to be hard. But, it was the only way to his nakama, so.

---

Nine cement blocks later, Usopp was starting to give up. He had used up all of his tiny bit of remaining energy three blocks back, and he was still going with no sign of the tunnel stopping.

In order to actualy reach the blocks to pull them out of the vertical tunnel, he had set up a pulley system from what supplies he could find. It had gotten so dark down the tunnel that he couldn't even see the handles anymore, and just guessed where they were.

He sat on the ground, panting, his eyes closed.

He couldn't go anymore. His arms were useless. He'll never reach the end of that darn tunnel, and he and Luffy would just die right here, along with the others.

Okay. Something about that just wasn't right. His captain would die here? His crewmates would die? Just because he was too weak to lift up a block? That was not right at all! Escpecially not the Strawhat Pirates! Even if they WOULD die in a dumb place like this, it would NOT be because of him!

Everyone was counting on him, he couldn't just roll over and DIE, like someone abducted by dinosaur people from the lost underwater city of Gersant! Heck, not even dinosaur people would make him abandon his nakama!

That's it. That tenth block was getting a piece of his mind.

The hook on the end of the rope was already locked onto the handle, so Usopp grabbed hold of the rope, and YANKED as hard as- no, harder than he could. The cement block, exactly two feet across, two feet wide, and one foot deep, just plain flew out of the tunnel, and kept going through the air, until in slammed into the ground a yard away.

Maybe... Maybe this is what Nami meant, that night on the ship. He never would have belived that he was able to do this, if he was completely sane. But here he was, wasn't he, lifting things that weighed more than he had ever lifted in his life, when he didn't even have enough strength left to lift a stick.

Doing insane things is good, isn't it? It's better than being normal. But in order to do insane things, you kind of need to be insane yourself, don't you?

Usopp looked back at his captain, sitting unconsious against the wall. Luffy was already crazy, that was for sure. He remembered back on the Baratie, when they had first learned about the Grand Line and still decided to go anyway. Maybe he had already been crazy, for following such a captain. Now he only knew it.

And as crazy as the Grand Line would surely turn out to be, it was like Neverland. Maybe he, and the others, were following a Peter Pan in a straw hat.

'Well,' thought Usopp as he stared down the now open-ended dark tunnel. 'It's about time we're off to Neverland.'

He jumped through the opening, one hand sliding down the rope.

**To Be Continued**

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_If you haven't already guessed, the phrase "off to neverland" occurs some where near the end of each chapter. Poor Luffy. Bloodloss is rarely a happy thing._**  
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	4. Comming to a Conclusion

_This is the last chapter of the series. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, my internet is down and I have to use school computers. I hope everyone enjoyed the story. I know I have. laughs insanely And on with the chapter!_

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**Chapter 4**

_In Which Usopp is Left Hanging, and Comes to a Conclusion_

Light is hard to come by when you're underground in a storage box.

That's all it was, really. It was concrete box for sicking people in to forget about them. Like an prison, only harder to get out of. As for light... zip. Nada. Jet black.

So, it was a wonder why Zoro wasn't surprised when a square beam of light shot through the room. Maybe it was because he had heard noises above him, the sound of concrete scraping against concrete, and the grunting of someone doing something difficult, for quite some time now.

He had never really fallen asleep. He didn't need to. He only slept when he needed to recover. Well... lounging around on the deck was also a good way of ignoring and listening to people at the same time, and to dodge chores. He had been just hanging there- he supposed- listening to the sound of Nami softly snoring, and Sanji muttering in his sleep.

Poor Sanji, though. The dumb cook, he really can't stand being locked up in here. And after their conversation yesterday, Zoro finally knew why. It was because of that rock island out in the middle of the ocean. Only... this was darker, with less food.

But there it was in front of him, blinding him in its brilliance, the way out. But, who opened it?

A rope fell down from the opening and stopped about five feet from what Zoro now saw was the ceiling. The rope's end twitched, and he could hear the sound of something sliding down it, then...

Usopp's body fell into veiw, his hand catching on the hook just in time to keep him from falling the rest of the way down. He glanced around, suspended by one hand, looking for something. His eyes fell on those of the swordsman's, and he grinned in a silent hello.

Zoro blinked the sleep out of his eyes and stared at the sharpshooter, surounded in light. It took a moment, but finally his mouth cracked into a wry grin. He knew he didn't have to say anything. Usopp got his silent message; Took you long enough.

"Where's Luffy?" It's wasn't the frist thing he wanted to say, but it just came out.

Usopp's smile faded ever so slightly. Zoro mentally prepared for the worst and the best.

"He's fine, he's right up there." He gestured with his free hand to the source of the light, above him. "Where are the others?"

Zoro tilted his head back, eyes returning to shadows. Only his smirk was visible.

"Oh, they're just hanging around. I wouldn't be too loud. They're sleeping."

Usopp's mind automaticly and instantaniously jumped to the worst possible meaning. He couldn't help it, it was the way the swordsman was smirking like that, the dark way he said each word, it just sent shivers down his spine.

The look on Usopp's face was priceless! This was the most fun he'd had in ages!

He let out a deep, booming, psycotic laughed that started echoing around the room, even as he kept laughing.

Usopp just about fell of the rope.

"D-d-don't DO that!"

"Well, great warrior Usopp of the deadly seas, you may not be able to see them but our crewmates are bound the same way I am, Nami being in front of me, Mr. Prince being on my left. What now?"

"We... ah..."

Literaly hanging in thought, Usopp frowned slighly and glanced around.

"If we could just get some light in here... I'll be right back, don't go anywhere!"

Zoro arched an eyebrow. "Do I look like I- oh, nevermind."

The sharpshooter was already gone, scampering up the rope. Once he resurfaced into the Weirdo Base, (as it was destined to be dubbed) he glanced around for one of the torches on the walls. When he found one, he yanked it off its brackets and returned to the hole.

He spared a quick glance in his captain's direction before he went back down. The poor kid was still sleeping, but thankfully he had stopped bleeding.

And down the rope, only one handed this time, back to Zoro and Sanji and Nami.

Now that there was some light, the place looked much smaller. It was a cube shape, but tilted at such a strange angle that Usopp was quite dizzy for while after first seeing it.

Zoro was closest to him, and he paused to take a good look at how he was bound. His neck, wrists, and anckles were all covered by huge, six inch concrete bands that merged right into the wall. He was at an angle that tilted him a little towards the gound, and to the right. Otherwise, he was on the uppermost wall.

Now that he looked around, Usopp could see Sanji, who was was tilted back and turned diagonaly to the wall he was on. Nami was lower to the ground, and tilted back so she was half laying down, and slightly towards the left.

Okay. Logic headache. Dizzy now.

"You're gonna let go of the torch."

Usopp lurched after it and caught it just before it fell.

"...And the hook."

He lurched after that, too, and caught it just before HE fell.

Thanks.

Sure.

"So, any ideas how to get us out?"

"Well, not really, but... maybe if Luffy was awake... No, I can do something. Maybe."

Zoro sighed in frustration. Then, his eyes locked onto Usopp's.

"Wait. Luffy's alseep?"

"Well, yeah."

"... Usopp. Are those bloodstains? What happened? Tell me."

"He's fine!"

"I KNOW that, Usopp, what HAPPENED?" Zoro, no matter how scary he was, didn't usualy get this upset when Usopp didn't come straight out with the truth.

Usopp sighed and relinquished. "He was like that when I found him. Someone- the marines, most likely- put him in this wierd sort of lab thing, and sapped all his energy with ocean water, and a bunch of others things. He was kind of out of it when I broke him free, and now he's resting by the hole. He's actualy in pretty bad shape. You wouldn't belive what kind of things they stuck in him..." He shuddered involuntarily.

"So you just left him alone, bleeding on the ground?" Zoro sound incredulous. He knew Luffy was fine- that wasn't why he asked. It just didn't seem like an Usopp thing to do.

"I thought that coming to get you guys would help him more than anything, but now, I don't even..." he trailed off, looking downcast.

I had come in here all grand and optemistic, and now I can't even rescue my best friends. Isn't that pathetic for a Brave Sea Warrior?

Zoro grinned croockedly in amusement. "Hey, don't worry. Luffy can get us out. All he needs is the right motivation."

He's right up there, right?

Yeah.

"HEY LUFFY! GET US OUT OF HERE SO WE CAN GO GET SOME MEAT!"

Up in the open room littered with cement blocks, Luffy stirred from his sleep. So hungry... Hey, was that Zoro's voice? Listen closely.

"Luffy!" it was quiet and echo-y, but that was definitely his first mate's voice.

"Wake up! We're gonna get you some meat as soon as we're free, but we're trapped... Get us out, would you?"

Luffy jumped up to his feet- slowly, but that didn't matter. He ran to the hole in the floor. It wasn't there last time he checked, so that's where his nakama were!

"Geranimo!" Clutching his hat to his head, he jumped down.

Usopp caught him around the waist just before he fell past.

"Oh, hey Usopp. Thanks." He looked almost seriously up at Usopp.

Thanks for everything.

He let the Rubberboy drop lightly to the floor. Tilted as it was, he lost his balance and fell on his face. He got up quickly, however, and looked around.

"Hey Nami!" He grinned brightly at his now awakened friend. She smiled just as brightly when she saw him.

"Luffy! I'm glad you made it! How' ya been?"

"Ugh, not too good. But we're gonna get some meat when we get out of this place!"

The funny thing was it didn't echo even half as much as before Luffy came down. Nami was glad for it, it had creeped her out.

"Hear hear!" someone shouted in agreement. Sanji gazed down at him from his would-be permanent fix on the wall.

"Hey Luffy!" It was Zoro. He was grinning like he just won the lottery. Just as evily, too.

"Why don't you get Mr. Prince down first?"

Luffy nodded and yanked his fist backward, stretching as far as the room would allow it.

Sanji looked at him nervously. "It's not going to hurt, is it?"

The captain shook his head, but it seemed less like a 'No, it's not.' than a 'You worry too much. I'm not going to answer,' and so failed to reasure him.

But, when his fist flew, it was evident that Luffy was not aiming for Sanji at all- the cement beside him broke under the pressure of a Rubber Bullet. The crack in the wall kept going, jerkedly webbing out and desroying the wall, crumbling to the ground. Then, Sanji fell, and landed gracefully like a cat.

The funny part was it hadn't hurt in the slightest.

Next, Zoro. Then, Nami. Luffy took hold of the three of them and litteraly rocketed up the entrance, Usopp right behind. They were all free, and Usopp would've cheered, except for the fact he was still worried about Luffy's wounds.

He wasn't the only one, it seemed.

"Hey Luffy, you going to be alright?"

The captain was suddenly remined that he hurt like heck. It had been easy to forget, when he woke up and Zoro had called him, but now that they were safe...

Usopp instictivly caught him when he fell, and pushed him upright.

"You just need some meat right?"

"Right. I'll be much better." He had stopped bleeding, and was looking much more energetic than when he had first found him. Usopp belived him.

Nami's eyes suddenly went wide for no apparant reason. "Usopp... you..."

"Hhm?" he looked at her in confusion. She raised a hand and poked him in the chest.

"You fell, back on the Merry. I saw you, just before I conked out. You fell, all the way from the crow's nest to the deck!"

"Yeah."

"You should be dead!"

Usopp was taken aback. "Why? What did I do?"

"That's not what I- Oh, nevermind!"

She rubbed a hand against her temple.

"You're just as difficult as they are!"

"I know. Isn't that great?"

... What?

"It's like you said before. I finally understand what you were saying. I get it, and I agree. If the land is reality, and the sky is the limit, then I'm blasting off to never land. Maybe not now, but someday"

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They had all returned to the Going Merry. Getting out of the Weirdo Base proved to be an adventure in istelf. It had turned out that the whole place was not only underground, but underwater to boot! Zoro ended up having to drag both Sanji and Luffy out of the water at the same time, and the Going Merry had drifted about a quater of a mile away from Weirdo Base.

It felt so, so good to just lay in his hammok. The swaying of the ship was so peaceful. Usopp rested with his hands under his head, contemplating the crew's goodnights.

"Man, I'm full!" (Quite a new one.)

"Sweet dreams, idiot." (Another new one.)

"Only if you aren't in them, Love Cook." (But, he was grinning...)

"Oh shut up and go to sleep." (The Nami Standard.)

He remembered turning to Nami then, right as she was leaving for her cabin. He whispered something in her ear, and she beamed, giggling all the way to her bed.

"I landed on a marine"

**Owari**

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_An thus the fourth and final chapter of Off To Neverland comes to a happy conclusion... Thank you all for reading! The reviews make my day. And no, the intentions of the odd marines will not be revealed. That is, literally, another story._


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